The Walking Dead Review: “The Killer Within”

The Zombie Apocalypse will be broadcast live.

I mean, life there really sucks, but it makes for gripping, soul-wrenching television.

Title: “Killer Within”

Cast and Crew

Directed by Guy Ferland
Written by Sang Kyu Kim, from the graphic series by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Robert Adlard.

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes
Sarah Wayne Callies as Lori Grimes
Scott Wilson as Herschel Greene
Jeffrey DeMunn as Dale
Steven Yeun as Glenn
Lauren Cohan as Maggie Greene
Norman Reedus as Darryl
Melissa Suzanne McBride as Carol Peletier
IronE Singleton as T-Dog
Emily Kinney as Beth Green
Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes
Vincent Ward as Oscar
Danai Gurira as Michonne
Laurie Holden as Andrea
David Morrissey as the Governor or should I say, “Phil.”
Michael Rooker as Merle Dixon
Dallas Roberts as Milton
Lew Temple as Axel

Additional cast and crew information may be found here.

Premise

Michonne suspects Woodbury is not as it appears, and encourages Andrea to leave. Andrea wants to wait and see.

Merle plans to search for his brother.

Back at the prison, an act of sabotage creates major conflicts for the survivors, who find themselves once again inhabiting Zombie Apocalypse Thrill Ride of Death. Meanwhile, Lori goes into labor.

High Point

The episode’s ending may be the most intense and problematic sequence we’ve seen in The Walking dead since the first season. The birth, several deaths, and Carl’s decision will cast long shadows.

Low Point

I’ll buy the walkers; they’re the premise for the show. I don’t see how a certain character survived the circumstances he faced the last time we saw him.

The Scores:

Originality: 3/6 They’re taking the show in some interesting directions, though much of it was the standard zombie stand-off. They almost gave us two guys fighting over a gun, and then thought better of it.

Effects: 6/6

Story: 5/6 The fragmented storylines should soon converge.

Acting: 5/6

Emotional Response: 6/6

Production: 6/6

Overall: 5/6

The real indication that no character is safe would be the the death of Carol– which, however, may or may not have happened. Other major characters die, true, but their deaths seem uncomfortably set in overused tropes. Lori has not won herself a lot of fans, and she’s carrying a child that likely is not her husband’s. In keeping with a certain Puritan/misogynist ethos that pervades the horror genre, her death is to be expected. We might refer to similar uncomfortable racial subtexts to discuss T-Dog’s passing, though he was far from the first in this group to die, and the show gave him a heroic death. He more clearly fits the pattern of a character leaving a show and who is then replaced with a similar character. Carol fits no clear pattern. She is an interesting character who has developed significantly, and she may have died anyway.

In short, these events could represent a High Point, because the show is willing to kill any character, however significant or likeable, and even after the character has finally started to become interesting. The deaths also open the way for some of the other characters to develop.

They can also represent, if not actual Low Points, then Problem Points, because of the problematic subtext they raise– and because I have to rescind some of my comments if, in fact, Carol remains alive (which would be a good thing, however, for other reasons).

In total, “Killer Within” receives 36/42

2 replies on “The Walking Dead Review: “The Killer Within””

  1. I actually found this to be quite a riveting episode but agree, how could that guy live on his own out there for so long? Also, is Carol dead? They found her head scarf, we see her leaving the place but no one has seen her? Rick’s response at the end of the show broke my heart but Shannon found it a tad weird when we discussed it on Hexed. Regardless, I thought it was quite brilliant.

    • I found Rick’s response plausible. He’s seen so much death, and he’s finally reconciling with his wife. This became the one thing that pushed him over.

      Also, Welcome aboard!

      You can, as I’m sure you know, set your name so it links to Hexed, for those who might want to check it out.

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